BP Cherry Point Refinery Piling Inspection and Repair

BP’s Cherry Point refinery has provided a significant portion of U.S. energy needs for more than 30 years. It is located along Pacific coastal waters in northwest Washington state and is the fourth largest refinery on the U.S. west coast.

The refinery processes a large share of Alaska North Slope crude oil, more than 225,000 barrels a day, into transportation fuels. That’s enough gasoline to keep one million cars on the road each day. It provides about 20 percent of the gasoline market share in Washington and Oregon, 85 percent of the jet fuel at Seattle International Airport, and is the largest west coast supplier of jet and diesel fuel to the U.S. military. Gasoline and jet fuel are also supplied to Vancouver, Canada, and markets in California, Arizona and Nevada. It also produces multiple diesel fuels, propane and butane, and about 2,700 tons a day of anode grade calcined coke used by aluminum smelters, making it one of the largest calcined coke producers in the world.

The refinery once processed Alaska North Slope crude oil exclusively. But with the decline of Alaska crude oil production, the strategic thrust today is to create crude oil processing flexibility with the ability to process low-cost crude oil stocks from a variety of sources. BP employs about 560 full-time workers and 375 contractors, one of which is Associated Underwater Services.

AUS has been inspecting, installing, and maintaining the protection on the pilings that support the many ship docking structures at the BP Cherry Point refinery for as long as AUS has been a company and before. BP’s emphasis on safety is witnessed by their membership in the ISNetworld safety consortium, of which AUS is also a member. The photos show pilings in need of repair and the occasional pleasant encounter with a baby seal.